When CS caught up with Shahid Kapoor for a light-hearted chat, he talked about his childhood and how he has evolved over the years

The antisocial me
I am inherently very shy. Even socially, my first nature is to keep to myself. But now when I go to parties, I have learnt to become more talkative as I find that people used to assume I'm arrogant and have an attitude. I realised that it's important, now that I am an actor, for people to feel comfortable around me. So I make that effort to talk to people.


Being observant
As an actor, you learn every day and I have taken everything from every film that I watch. My father always tells me that one of the most important parts of acting is observation.

He used to tell me when I was young, that you must observe everything - life, people, things, whether it's a performance in a movie or whether it's some random guy standing by the door. The skill is to observe things and then imbibe them. It's easier said than done, but you must.


Superstition? What's that?
I am not at all superstitious. But my mom believes in astrologers and before starting my first film, she made me wear a ring. Since it was my first film, I wanted to make it work badly. So I wore it and it worked. And after that, the next three films flopped.

Then I was like, 'Dude! This can't happen'. The same stone cannot work differently. So, I took it off. There are always good films and bad films, and you must take credit for whatever you do. You can't give the credit to some little thing.


Multitasking: A necessity
I have the worst memory. I don't remember what happened day before. And I can't multitask. I envy girls because they are really good at it and guys just can't handle it. This is one thing that I really can't do, but really want to do. And there are so many things going on that you can't just focus on one thing.


Me and the cockroach
I was a very naughty kid. I would get punished every week. I wasn't too focussed in school, I used to play till 10 in the night. Even in 45 degree hot Delhi summers, I would be out playing cricket or some other sport, or hanging out with boys; basically a typical boy.

So mom would lock me up in the bathroom with the lights off. And I was scared of the dark. I remember my bathroom had a cockroach and I had a relationship with it.

Every time I would be in there, and would shout 'Mom let me out!', that guy would come out and I would start yelling harder. That cockroach and me had some tense moments together. But I am fine with cockroaches now, I am a big boy (winks).